Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew visits Athens and Rome

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew conducted high-level visits to Athens and Rome following celebrations marking his 35 years of patriarchy. In Athens, he met with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximos Mansion. The discussions focused on pending issues regarding the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Greek minority in Turkey, with a specific emphasis on the reopening of the Halki Theological School. Mitsotakis reaffirmed Greece's support for the Patriarchate's rights and religious freedoms.

Following his time in Greece, the Patriarch traveled to Rome, where he was named an honorary Doctor of Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). During the ceremony, he delivered a lecture on “Synodality and Society in the Church.” The event was attended by high-ranking Vatican officials, including Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and ambassadors from several nations, including Greece, France, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Turkey, and the United States.